Why Southampton could be key to England’s future

The St Mary's academy has been a conveyor belt of talent producing players such as the most expensive player in the world Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and others.

And with Rickie Lambert making his England debut against Scotland in August we take a look at which other Southampton players could feature for the Three Lions in the future.

Adam Lallana

After spending the start of his career in the Championship and League One, he has looked at home after completing his first season of football in England’s top tier last season.

He has featured once for the under-19s and under-21s and received a call up to the senior squad for the World Cup qualifying game against Ukraine. With friendlies against Germany and Chile before the end of the year, Hodgson has said he will give some players a chance to impress and Lallana may be one of them.

Luke Shaw

The young left-back has impressed everyone and is constantly linked to a move to the top four teams; however the young starlet committed his future to the Saints by signing his first professional contract and does not look to be going anywhere anytime soon.

On the November 10 2012, he became the youngest Southampton player to start a Premier League. He finished his first professional season with 25 appearances in the Premier League and three in cup competitions.

He has played at under-16 and under-17 level for England and was called up to the under-21 squad at the start of the year - but unfortunately had to pull out due to injury.

He finally made his under-21 debut in September. He already is a Premier League and under-21 regular for England at the age of 18 and surely it is a matter of time before he is called up to the senior squad.

With Ashley Cole going into decline in the next few years, Shaw will have to compete with Gibbs for the position of back-up for Baines until the Everton man steps down but within the next three or four years Shaw will have made his senior debut.

Nathaniel Clyne

Clyne is another young full-back who plays for Southampton and could make the senior England squad in the future.

Whilst he is older than Shaw, he has a bright future and has plenty of experience after spending four years at Crystal Palace before moving to the Saints.

Clyne was a standout player for Palace, winning personal accolades such as the Crystal Palace Young Player of the Year award (2009, 2010), the Football League Player of the Year award (2010) and featuring in the in the 2011-12 Championship PFA team of the year amongst many other achievements.

Last season he established himself as a regular at right-back for Southampton making 34 appearances in the league. Whilst I think Walker will be a regular for England at right-back I think that Clyne provides good cover and once Glen Johnson steps down, Clyne could replace him in the squad.

James Ward-Prowse

The midfielder has played for England at under-17, under-19, under-20 level and most recently made his debut for the under-21 team.

Whilst being outshone by Morrison in the most recent under-21 game, Ward-Prowse scored a free-kick and hit the crossbar in the game.

Last season he featured 15 times for Southampton with many coming from the bench, though he won the Scholar of the Season accolade at the club’s award ceremony beating Shaw and Gape.

This season he come into favour and started the first three games for Southampton. I think he could partner Wilshere in the heart of England’s midfield for many years to come as he is an exceptional talent and enormous potential.

These are four players who could be in the senior England squad within the next four years so do not be surprised if the number of players in the England squad are play for the Saints.

They are a massively underrated team, though having said this I think they will go down the table by at least two places to sixth or lower. Things look promising for this side who are looking to build on their second season of top flight football and I believe they will not be one-season wonders like Newcastle in the 2011/12 season.

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DISCLAIMER

This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of
GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article.
GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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